Carpooling – dos and don’ts

Commuting and carpooling has many benefits. Besides saving money you are also kind to our environment. However, there are some aspects to consider when planning to carpool. The average car-pooler commutes to work from Monday to Friday throughout the month. Working hours are about eight hours a day and this car-pooler doesn´t work nights or weekends. For carpooling to be cost efficient it takes some planning and most importantly the poolers need to work the same hours. There are some downsides to carpooling. A group of car-poolers is not very flexible since working hours and tasks need to be consistent. Having completely unknown people in your car can mean a certain risk as well. If you don´t know the people you should have some references before you invite them in your carpooling group.

Prerequisites makes carpooling frictionless

If the car-poolers work the same hours is a big advantage. They don´t need to coordinate places to pick-up or leave persons. Costs for parking and eventual heating for the car is split equal, as well as gas. For everything to run smoothly the car-poolers should make a schedule on who should be driving on what days. It can be that only one person has a car, he should then be compensated for this. Owning a car costs far more than just gas, taxes and insurance as well as reparations and service in addition to the work of keeping the car clean.

Being a good car pooler

As one of the car-poolers in a group it is important to show consideration to your co-passengers. Keeping the schedule is the most important. Sleeping through the alarm can happen to anyone but it shouldn´t become a habit. Since you are really close to each other in a car it is important to take care of your hygiene. Most people have different prerequisites in the economic aspect which means the cars you travel in will be of different class. A good car pooler takes this in to consideration and adapts to the situation. If the driver has a very neat and tidy car, passengers need to accept the rules that the driver sets. An example can be that the driver doesn´t want the passengers to eat in the car because it can stain the interior. A good driver follows the rules in traffic and is careful in traffic situations. Of course, the car needs to fulfil the requirements that exist on cars in traffic.

A not so good car pooler

To change things in proper time is essential to give the car-poolers a chance to adapt to changes. An example is someone in a group that constantly changes times for departure. He needs to stay another hour at work or needs to go home an hour early. If this happens a lot, it will create a problem in the group constantly having to change to adapt to one person. Being constantly late to pick-up is another thing that will be a problem in the long run. The driver should always drive so that the passengers feel safe! The conclusion of it all is that you can gain a lot from carpooling if you have the means and the will to make the necessary plans.